The Dhahran Airfield and Civil Air Terminal
On February 14, 1945, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt met with King Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia aboard the USS Quincy in the Great Bitter Lake on the Suez Canal. This meeting would have lasting implications on U.S. – Saudi relations for years to come.
Though the two nations established diplomatic relations in 1939, no American official higher than a minister in the diplomatic service had ever met the king. It wasn’t until 1942 that the State Department posted its first resident envoy in Jeddah, a career officer named James Moose, the second diplomat assigned to the nation and the first to live there. In 1943, Roosevelt recognized that Saudi Arabia was important to war efforts during World War II due to its oil production and declared the country eligible for financial aid. Later that year, the U.S. diplomatic mission in Jeddah was upgraded to legation and Moose was replaced with a higher ranking official, Marine Col. William Eddy. Eddy developed a close relationship with King Abdul Aziz and it was his efforts that made the meeting with Roosevelt possible.